As a child, I devoured the Famous Five mysteries by Enid Blyton and was later drawn to crime
thrillers, such as A Simple Plan by
Scott Smith and The Day of the Jackal
by Frederick Forsyth. Ever since they became recognised as a distinct category,
however, I’ve been captivated by psychological thrillers, loving writers such
as Minette Walters and Nicci French, from the 1990’s onwards. At the time, I
was in awe of all writers and the idea of actually putting together a
psychological thriller myself was completely beyond me!
Before I first had a go at writing fiction in 2008, I was a psychotherapist
for 15 years. As well as seeing clients with mainstream issues such as low
self-esteem, depression and relationship issues, I was privileged to work with
ex-convicts from high-security institutions. I found this work fascinating and
aside from giving me ideas for novels, it gave me considerable insight into the
disturbed and criminal mind.
So, should I try to write murder mysteries or psychological thrillers..? Which
would I choose? In the end I didn’t. I put the two genres together.
In my first attempt at a novel, The Evil Beneath, I wanted to create
a story that had a distinct mystery on the surface and a deeper psychological
thriller lurking underneath. To create dissonance between what the reader
‘knows’ and what the lead character hasn’t yet worked out. I like to find ways
to mislead the reader and to create jeopardy from the ‘inside-out’, rather than from
the ‘outside-in’. By this I mean that the characters are exposed to danger on a
mental level – mind-games and deception – rather than (or as well as!) a
physical one.

In Don’t you Dare, for example, the story starts with a mother misunderstanding a situation involving her daughter and killing someone. This kind of mystery allows the reader to get right inside the minds of key players. It encourages them to try to anticipate how characters might handle certain dilemmas and tempts the reader towards trying to figure out what their true motives are. Not just ‘who dunnit’– but ‘why’ and ‘how dunnit’! It also invites readers to consider: what on earth would I do if I was faced with this situation..?


My current favourite authors are Belinda Bauer, Claire
Kendall, Lucy Clarke and Sabine Durrant.
Brilliant books I’ve read recently are:
Until You’re Mine by Samantha Hayes and Tideline
by Penny Hancock.
Enemy at the Window, the latest novel from AJ Waines is OUT NOW, published by Bloodhound Books. 99p/99c for a short period only.
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AJ Waines is a No 1 International Bestelling Author
Nearly half a million copies sold
View all books on Amazon
Nearly half a million copies sold
View all books on Amazon
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